I haven’t posted a kids puzzle lately, and luckily I found a couple here that I hadn’t yet assembled. Crafty Critters was a quick, fun puzzle that was fair quality and makes for a very cute finished image.
This is only the second puzzle from this manufacturer that I’ve assembled, and overall I would say their quality is good to fair. The pieces are somewhat thin, but sturdy. There are a good variety of shapes and the fit is very nice. The colors are bright and fun; although the finish is a bit shiny. Good enough quality, although I wish the makers of puzzles for children would make them a bit more tough to withstand the sometimes not-so-gentle way children play.
As an added note, the first Creative Edge puzzle I assembled had the absolute BEST GLOW IN THE DARK IMAGE I’ve ever done or seen. It was also the best “glow” picture I’ve ever gotten. Check out Creepy Crawlies! if you’re interested, I got some great images!
Even though this puzzle had 2 missing pieces it was still fun to assemble – I had a great time with it actually. 👍
Mom has quite the knack for finding awesome puzzles like this one at the thrift stores. I’m kinda missing all those awesome finds these days, she’s in the process of moving and doesn’t have time to go thrift shopping. (Besides, if she came home with more puzzles I think my dad’s head might explode – they still haven’t finished packing all the ones we already own!)
I enjoy kids puzzles very much, I’m a “grownup” but putting together a kids puzzle makes me just as happy as any adult puzzle ever could. Sometimes it’s not the puzzle, it’s the puzzling. ☺
This is a cute, wintry puzzle for my Christmas in July here on the blog. Unfortunately it had one of the tightest fits I’ve ever worked with, it was quite difficult to assemble – not because of the image, but because it took so much effort to connect the pieces.
Springbok puzzles usually have a tight fit, some much tighter than others; I’m not a fan of having to have upper body strength to complete a puzzle. Sometimes when working with a super tight fit my thumb starts to hurt from pushing so hard to put the pieces together! Springbok has some excellent, fun to assemble images though, and so I sometimes take a chance and hope that the fit isn’t too snug. You can see above that the finished puzzle doesn’t lie flat, it curls up along the edges because of the fit – this made it difficult to get a good picture.
Other than the fit this puzzle was good quality; good variety of piece shapes, thick pieces, and excellent image reproduction. I love the image – it’s very cute, and great for a kids puzzle.
Below are a couple of my favorite “folks”….
All the different snowfolks were adorable, but these were my favorites. The first one is perfect for Christmas in July, and the fisherman and the golfer are just plain cute. There’s also a hockey player, clown, gardener, firefighter, and many others. So fun!
This puzzle is recommended, with the warning that the fit on the puzzle I assembled was extremely tight. Perhaps not all of these puzzles will be this snug, but be forewarned.
Details:
Title: Snowfolks
Artist: Bill Bell
Brand: Springbokk
Piece count: 60 pieces
Size: Approx. 14 x 19 in. (35 x 48 cm)
Purchased: Used, thrift store
Quality:
Board: Very good
Cutting: Very good
Image: Excellent
Box: Average
Fit: Poor, much too tight
Puzzle Dust: Small amount
Piece cut: Grid cut
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, doesn’t lie flat
Overall Rating: Good, recommended (beware the rigid fit)
Another quick kids puzzle that fit together well, but both the box and the pieces were less than ideal. I guess the fit is one of the most important things, but for me I’d like both the pieces and the box to be more sturdy.
Kids aren’t always careful or gentle with their toys, the boxes especially. I think puzzles are important for children to play with – of course I’m most likely a bit biased. Still, if the boxes are sturdy and not easily broken then there is less chance of losing pieces. When you have a box that just opens like a cereal box there is a greater chance of losing pieces; once you lose pieces you also lose the desire to assemble that puzzle – at least that’s true for me.
It’s a fun puzzle to assemble, with bright colors and a fun picture – especially if you’re a Spongebob fan. It didn’t take long to put together, but was a nice change of pace since I hadn’t had any kids puzzles to assemble for a while. For me a puzzle is a puzzle, no matter the piece count. I try to enjoy them all! 🙂
This puzzle has been in my house for a long time, I found it the other day and thought it was the perfect time to assemble it. It’s a quick, fun puzzle that’s pretty darn cute!
The quality was good, but not great. The pieces were a medium thickness, but not overly sturdy and easily bent. There were a nice variety of shapes and the fit was very good. The image reproduction was slightly fuzzy in some areas too. It’s interesting to me the diversity in quality within the same brand. I’ve had some Hasbro puzzles that have been excellent quality and some not so much. I wonder why it isn’t more consistent.
There was no title of the puzzle anywhere on the box, so I’ve named it “Cute Bunny” because that’s what I think of when I see the picture. It was a cute image and a nice diversion for a little while.
Kids puzzles are pretty fun, especially when I’m trying to decide which larger piece puzzle I’m going to assemble next. It’s nice to have a small puzzle lying around that I can pick up and put together pretty quickly; it feeds my puzzle addiction and makes me very happy!
My Jigsaw Journal 